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Gavin Seim believes that it鈥檚 self-evident that Washington state鈥檚 recently approved gun-control initiative is unconstitutional, which in turn means that the state鈥檚 citizens don鈥檛 have to obey its requirement of a background check for most gun sales. And he is organizing a rally 鈥� 鈥� at the state capitol in Olympia in mid-December to make their defiance manifest in a massive act of civil disobedience.

There鈥檚 one problem, however: None of the activities that Seim and his anti-gun-control cohorts say they will be engaging in on the Capitol steps is illegal on its face, even if people openly sell guns to each other there. And so, state police say, they wouldn鈥檛 be likely to arrest anyone for failing to comply with the new law 鈥� at least not right away.

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Seim is a youthful 鈥渃onstitutionalist鈥� from the central Washington town of Ephrata whose former career as a photographer has been overtaken by his new occupation as a 鈥渓iberty speaker鈥� 鈥� lecturing fellow 鈥淧atriots鈥� about the Constitution and organizing events such as the Dec. 13 鈥淲e Will Not Comply鈥� rally.

鈥淲ill you bow down and lick the boots of tyrants, or will you stand for the liberty of your children?鈥� Seim asks readers at .

Seim鈥檚 new career appears to have been inspired by this year in at the age of 29. His candidacy gained no traction 鈥� Seim attracted only 1,462 votes, good for seventh place out of primary firled of 12.

He did, however, by provoking a confrontation at the Grant County Courthouse with sheriff鈥檚 deputies over the presence of a lockbox for gun users to store their firearms while conducting business at the courthouse. The county briefly considered filing criminal charges against Seim, though it did also obtain a lockbox.

Since then, Seim has embarked on a one-man crusade against supposed police oppression in rural Washington. This fall, a video that Seim made of himself chastising a police officer for conducting a patrol in an unmarked car went viral, making Seim something of . In the video, Seim can be seen pulling the officer over and threatening him with a citizens arrest.

Seim holds a relatively radical view of the meaning of the Second Amendment 鈥� shared broadly among his fellow 鈥淧atriots鈥� 鈥� as providing citizens the absolute right to own any weapon they choose. He explained this to KIRO-AM radio host Jason Rantz during promoting the Olympia rally:

"The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution says that the right of the people, as you know, to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. That means 鈥� and we can go to the historical context, we probably don鈥檛 have time for that today, but you can trace this all the way back to the discussions when they were writing this 鈥� it means the government has no authority whatsoever to restrict our guns in any fashion whatsoever. Any gun law, except our Constitution鈥檚, is void, it鈥檚 lawless."

Rantz pointed out the failure of Seim鈥檚 logic, noting that his interpretation would allow anyone to own any kind of weapon, including bazookas or missile launchers 鈥� and Seim essentially agreed, arguing that in fact Americans should able to own bazookas if they so choose. And he brushed away the objection that it would allow felons to continue to own guns.

Seim explained that the Olympia rally鈥檚 main purpose 鈥渋s to send a very clear message to our representatives, to our legislators, to our judges, to our law enforcement, that I-594, because it violates the both the United States and the Washington state constitutions, it violates our rights, it is not law, it is void, it will not be followed. And we鈥檙e letting them know that if they cross this line, if they try to enforce this lawless law, that we鈥檙e not going to let it happen.鈥�

He contends that gun rights are so deeply embedded that it鈥檚 OK to ignore the results of a democratic election and refuse to acknowledge the new law. 鈥淲hen the Framers wrote they said that all law that violates the Constitution is void,鈥� he told Rantz. 鈥淪o when it comes to our rights that are granted by the Constitution, those are inherent, those are natural, God-given rights. Those are our rights, those are our birthright, they belong to us, and no government or individual has the right or authority to take those away.鈥�

Seim has , saying: 鈥淲e have the God given right to revolution. Why? Because we have a right to defend life. With it we have an obligation to prudence and principle. Honorable revolt is simply a defense from the lawless.鈥� He later added: 鈥淲e have the right and duty to use any force necessary against a lawless agency who has declared war on us.鈥�

Seim told Rantz, though, that he sees the Olympia rally as a way to stave off civil war. 鈥淚f we stand up now and assert that, if we let them know that we are here, we will not comply with this law, that鈥檚 how we void lawless legislation. And that鈥檚 how we do so peacefully, because we don鈥檛 want to get to a point where they鈥檙e coming to the door to take our guns, and let鈥檚 make no mistake, that鈥檚 where they鈥檙e going with this.鈥�

The most immediate problem with Seim鈥檚 plan, however, is that nothing anyone will do on Dec. 13 will immediately break the law. The way , violations 鈥� which are misdemeanors on the first offense, and become felonies on succeeding offenses 鈥� only occur when a person selling a gun fails to complete the requisite paperwork within the allotted time.

that his fellow rally-goers will violate the law flagrantly at the rally: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not hard since the law is so ridiculous. Hand a gun to a friend, buy a gun, sell a gun. You are welcome to do all of these things as you please.鈥�

However, made clear that nothing planned for the event would be in itself illegal or provoke an arrest. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see handing a weapon to someone else as a violation of the law,鈥� a spokesman said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see that as a transfer.鈥�

Seim has another problem with his rally: He didn鈥檛 obtain a permit for it, and another pro-gun group is planning a rally for the same day. The state official in charge of issuing the permits wrote back to Seim and explained that the conflict precluded his plans: 鈥淭he place that you have indicated in the below map is taken by another group on this particular day and during the time you are interested in holding a rally. The group that reserved the space submitted a completed application with a specific location request.鈥�

Seim : "First let's be clear. We are not asking for your 'authorization' and we're not 'applying' to the State. We are allowing them the opportunity to work with us. I did in fact clearly inform you we would be gathering on the main lawn right from the start and there was no doubt about where I meant. What I have outlined is what we ARE doing. 鈥� We informed you of the plan out of courtesy. You can work with us, or you can play games."

In the meantime, Seim has continued planning his event by rallying his troops with stirring appeals. 鈥淲e stand for peace,鈥� he wrote . 鈥淏ut we will tear down this tyranny and if I must die for liberty, I will do it with principle and pride, counting myself among the lucky few who were there to see liberty finally stand.鈥�